Unlucky Meetings: The First Time
by RookieGrey8
Summary: A serial killer springs up in a small town in Mississippi and the BAU is called to help solve the case. While there, Reid develops a connection with the most recent victim's emotional sister.
1. Chapter 1

**I absolutely love Criminal Minds, and like every good show that I like, I couldn't help the little plot bunnies that decided to hop into my brain. This one has been stuck in my head for a pretty long time, so I finally decided to write it down and make it go away. I'm not completely sure where this story is going to go or if I'm going to finish it, but that's a-okay with me. I'm just happy to finally get this thing out of my head. :P**

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"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together." –Marilyn Monroe

00000

The first time I met Spencer Reid was the day my brother was killed. It wasn't a happy meeting or one that I really like to remember, but it did leave an impression.

I was out of college for the Christmas holidays and I had decided to visit my older brother before heading home to my parents' house. As I drove up the long driveway in my rusty old car I couldn't help but think how ironic it was that my brother had chosen to move into an old fixer upper house in the country. Especially one so big. Elijah had been determined to be the world's greatest bachelor; living in a city apartment with nothing but his games and his food to keep him company. Instead, he had found a house out in the country that was big enough to raise a family in.

I had never actually been to Eli's house, mainly because I had been in the middle of settling into a new college when he moved. So when I pulled up in front of his house, my eyes went as wide as dinner plates. It was obvious that he was still in the process of remodeling and repainting everything, but it was still impressive. It looked a lot like the old southern houses that you see in movies. A long wraparound porch, a swing, big double doors leading into the entranceway—it was all there.

"Whew, dentistry must be treating him pretty well," I stated, a bit jealously. I sent Eli a text saying I was at his house, just to annoy him.

I loped down the small walkway and climbed up the steps. I was careful not to touch the railing because the white paint on it looked fresh. When I reached the door, I was surprised to find it open a crack. I shrugged it off as Eli expecting me and not wanting to accidently lock me outside. In a house that big, who knows whether or not he'd be able to hear me knock.

I pushed the door open and strolled into the hallway. A TV was blaring somewhere upstairs, but I was more interested in the room on my left: the kitchen.

"Elijah, I'm here!" I shouted, while I walked to the fridge. I yanked the door open and dug around for something that looked edible. After some rearranging, I found a pack of string cheese and took a piece. "Elijah, you need to restock your kitchen!"

I shut the refrigerator door and started following the sound of the TV. I followed it up the squeaky stairs and down one of the hallways towards the biggest bedroom. Before entering, I turned around in a circle, taking in all the extra rooms.

"Hey Eli, I just got a great idea!" I knocked twice on the door and threw it open without waiting for a response. "You could rent out all your extra rooms to boarders, like a condo! Lord knows you're not going to use them." I frowned when I realized I was talking to thin air. "Eli?"

I marched over to the television and turned it off. Then, I took my iPhone out of my pocket and looked to see if I had any texts. I didn't, and it also said that Eli had read the one I'd sent him when I'd arrived.

"Maybe he's not home," I muttered to myself. I sighed. "He could've at least told me that he would be late. I could've gone somewhere and gotten something decent to eat." I hit the call button on Eli's contact and pressed the phone to my ear. While I waited for him to pick up, I rifled through his closet.

A minute later, a song drifted through the air. It was "Little Bit Gypsy" by Kellie Pickler. Eli absolutely hated the song, but since it apparently described me so well, he had set it as his ringtone for me. I spun around and stared at the door on the other side of the bedroom where the song was coming from. I ended my call and the music stopped.

With a smile, I skipped over to the bathroom door and knocked twice again. I barged in with my eyes closed and proceeded to lecture. "Eli, you could've let me know you were taking a bath or something. There's no need to let me freak myself out. I was seriously worried that you would think someone had broken into your house and then you'd accidently shoot me by mistake. Of course, I would have no worries at all if you did that. I'd be seeing you up in Heaven pretty quick cuz Mum would kill you when she found out what you did…. Are you even listening to me?"

I stayed silent, expecting a response. Nothing. Not even a splash from the tub.

"Eli, don't play games with me. Are you dressed and staring at me like an idiot or what? Can I open my eyes?"

No answer.

"I'm opening them. 3…2…1…." I opened my eyes and screamed.

My brother's body was floating face down in the bathtub. He still had his scrubs on from his assistant job. He hadn't even taken his shoes off yet. His neck was purple and bruised like someone had held him down under the water.

I waited for him to jump up and say "Gotcha," or for a bubble to roll out of his mouth. Something to show that he still had air, that he was still alive. Once again, there was nothing. The water didn't even ripple.

I don't know how long I stood there, absolutely paralyzed. I was frozen in the shock, anger, and hurt of losing my brother. I was frozen in the fear that the killer might be lurking right behind me. I was frozen because I had no clue what to do. Should I call Mom or 911? Should I look for the guy who did this or should I sit down and cry? Do I stay here or do I leave?

In the end, I managed to jerk myself back into the bedroom, sit on the bed, and call 911.

_"__911, what's your emergency?"_ the chipper voice on the other end of the phone line asked.

"My…my…," I couldn't say it.

_"__Could you repeat that please?"_

"…Dead—Elijah," I struggled to get the words out.

_"__Take a deep breath, and tell me what's wrong, okay?"_

I tried to take a deep breath, but I still felt like I was going to puke. Finally I closed my eyes, and blurted out, "My brother's dead!"

_"__Alright, stay where you are. I'm sending someone to your right now."_

I nodded even though I knew she couldn't see me. Then I hung up, flopped over on the bed, and cried and screamed till I couldn't anymore.

00000

"Elijah Crowley, age 25, lived just outside Hope, Mississippi. His body was found by his sister about 3 hours ago." JJ tossed a pile of case files into the middle of the round table. While the other agents each grabbed one, she continued on, "He is the third victim in four weeks to be found drowned in a bathtub after arriving home." JJ pushed a button on the remote and pictures of the other victims and the crime scenes appeared on the screen.

Morgan flipped through the case file. "They all live in pretty remote areas too."

"I'd say," Prentiss stated. "Elijah Crowley had a mile and a half long driveway. You can't find that in a city."

"I'm surprised you could find that anywhere," Morgan stated. "Did he own any farmland? Having that much land in rural Mississippi must mean he has a farm of some sort."

"Actually, Mississippi has a lot less farmland than people typically think," Reid interjected. "Only about 37% of the land is used for farming. Compared to Nebraska where 93% of land is for crops, it's a very small percentage."

"And you know that why?" Rossi asked.

"Have you ever even been to Mississippi?" Before Reid could even attempt to answer Morgan's question, Garcia stormed in, bringing along her ever colorful wardrobe.

"I heard every word _mes amours_, and as always our very own Walking Talking Encyclopedia is right." Garcia plopped down in the empty seat next to Morgan and set her laptop gently onto the table. "Mississippi still has more than its fair share of farmers, cattle owners, and other farming-type people, but Elijah Crowley was not one of them. His grandparents are, but there is no record of him ever even looking into buying a tractor."

"Thanks Garcia." Hotch's voice was strong and firm like it was at the beginning of each new case. "I want everyone to look over the case files and get your go bags. Wheels up in 30."

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**So, that's it for right now, but I'll most likely be writing more of it soon. ****If I do end up trying to finish this story, it'll probably only be about 10 chapters long.**

**What do you think of it so far?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's some more of this lovely little story. I don't really have anything else to say, so on with the chapter!**

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Reid stared out the window of plane, watching as the storm clouds floated by. Every now and then the plane would hit a spot of turbulence and Rossi would twitch and tighten his hold on the papers he was holding. Reid barely noticed though. He was still going over the new case in his mind.

The one part he couldn't get out of his mind was that Elijah Crowley's sister had been the one to find him. Finding a dead body, no matter who or where it was, always was and always would be a traumatic experience. The only thing worse than finding a dead body, is finding the dead body of someone you love. It didn't matter how many cases he worked, the image of a person seeing their dead brother, sister, parent, spouse, or child never went away.

"Reid?"

Reid's head shot up from its resting position on his hand. "Uh, yes?" he asked.

"We're ready to start going over the case," Hotch stated. Reid nodded and scooted to the edge of his seat to join the circle of agents.

"Well, we know that this unsub likes having power and control," Morgan started. "He holds his victims underwater by their necks. He wants to feel the life leave their bodies."

"What we don't know is how he chooses his victims," Prentiss said. She flipped through the file and dragged out three pictures, each showing a different victim. "The first victim, Roger Clint, was a children's dentist who had just opened his own clinic." She pointed at the next victim. "Sandy Miller was a college student who was visiting Hope for the weekend."

"Did she have any family in Hope?" Morgan asked.

"Let me check." Garcia disappeared from the screen in the middle of the table for a minute and reappeared a second later. "Nope, none. Her hometown is Montgomery, Alabama and that is still where her family currently lives. The only other family she has is an uncle, but he lives in California."

"So why would she go to Hope for the weekend?" Prentiss asked.

"It's a small town only a few miles from a college. Maybe it's where all the college kids go to party on weekends." Reid slid the picture of Sandy Miller closer to him. "Although, she doesn't look like she's dressed to go to a party. The clothes she's wearing look more like something you would wear to an interview or some kind of office job."

"Well, if she was looking into getting a job it would make sense," Rossi stated. "She was new to college and she lived miles from her parents."

Hotch's face darkened. "If the unsub is targeting young adults just in or out of college, then he has an unlimited supply of victims."

"We don't know that though. He could just be grabbing the first vulnerable person he sees," Prentiss replied. She flicked her head to get her bangs out of her eyes. "What did Elijah Crowley do?"

The sound of typing was heard over the speakers. "Elijah… had just finished dentistry school. He was working as an assistant at a local clinic."

"That's two out of the three victims that were working on a medical career," Reid stated. He was talking fast. "What was Sandy Miller studying at the university?"

Typing was heard again before Garcia replied, "She was going to try to double major in microbiology and anatomy."

"Sounds like something you would do if you had high hopes in the medical field," Rossi commented.

"Alright," Hotch began, "when we land Morgan, I want you and Prentiss to head over to the last crime scene. Dave, you and I will go to the morgue and look over the bodies to make sure nothing was missed. And Reid, you can head over to the police station with JJ and talk to Elijah Crowley's family. They should still be there, considering they drove three hours to get here."

Reid looked up from scanning over the file. "You want me to talk to the family?"

Hotch quirked an eyebrow. "JJ will be there with you. It shouldn't be a problem."

"Yah, but wouldn't you rather do that? I could go to the morgue and—"

"Since when are you scared to talk to the victims' families?" Morgan asked.

"Since forever!" Reid's voice rose in pitch. "You know I can't talk to people!"

"Reid, you'll be fine," Hotch said kindly.

Reid just sighed and leaned back against the seat.

00000

When Morgan and Prentiss drove up to Elijah Crowley's house, a policeman was standing outside waiting for them. As the agents got out of the car, Prentiss whistled. She turned in a circle, taking in the slightly rundown house, the long driveway, and the acres of forest surrounding them.

"Now this would be a nice place to live. There's nothing around you but trees and wild animals. You would basically have your own fortress here."

Morgan pointed at the house. "It's a bit of a fixer upper though, don't you think?"

The deputy walked over to them. "We're pretty sure that was the whole idea of buying this house," he stated. "From what we can tell, Elijah Crowley liked to build. He was remodeling everything by himself. He'd just finished the porch." He grabbed Morgan's hand and gave it a firm shake. "I'm Deputy Barnes."

"I'm Agent Morgan and this is Agent Prentiss." He motioned to Emily, who nodded. "Would you mind taking us to where the body was discovered?"

"Sure, that's why we're here." He started walking toward the porch.

On the inside, the house still looked pretty old fashioned. The only new things in it were the fridge and radio in the kitchen. The living room was full of paint buckets, wooden boards, hammers and nails, and other building supplies.

Before Barnes started climbing the stairs, he turned around and said, "Be careful on these stairs. A couple of the steps are a bit old and the railing is loose."

They carefully creaked up the stairs, swung around the banister, and followed the hall to the biggest of the bedrooms. The inside was jam packed full of DVDs, a TV, dirty clothes, a beanbag, a king-sized bed, and a laptop. The closet door was open too, revealing more clothes. A chip bag and an empty Dr. Pepper bottles was on the floor next the bed.

Prentiss wrinkled her nose. "No matter how good a guy looks on paper, he's still a guy."

"It looks like he was basically living out of this room," Morgan said, looking around.

"Kind of makes sense though. The rest of the house isn't exactly what I would call fit to live in," Barnes replied. "It's pretty drafty. Not much insulation and a lot of the windows are leaky."

"The only thing here that's not thrown around carelessly is his computer and his TV," Prentiss observed.

Morgan grabbed his phone out of his pocket while Deputy Barnes took Prentiss into the bathroom where Elijah Crowley's body was found. He picked up the laptop and flipped it open. A lock screen with a password popped up.

"Hey Baby Girl," Morgan said as soon as Garcia answered.

_"__Hello my Chocolate Sculpture, what can I do you for?"_

Morgan chuckled and replied, "I have a laptop I need you to get in to. Can you do it?"

_"__Ah, and I was hoping you would have a challenge for me. Give me the IP address and half an hour, and I will have a list of any and all suspicious sites that he even considered visiting. Ciao!" _

Morgan slid his phone back into his pocket and walked over to the bathroom where Prentiss was stooped down next to an iPhone. The screen was cracked and shattered, but when Prentiss pushed the button she could still make out a picture of a family. There were five kids in it, and it looked to have been taken during the summer. Everyone in it was smiling happily. The tallest boy, who could only be Elijah, had his arms draped over a younger girl and boy.

"They look to be a pretty happy family," Prentiss said sadly. "Close too. How many guys do you know that keep their family as their lock screen?"

Morgan shrugged. "Not many." He bent down next to Prentiss and took a closer look at the phone. There was a drop of something under all the glass. He leaned back to glance into the bedroom and then stared down at the phone again.

"Was this phone here when you arrived on the scene?" Morgan asked Barnes.

He nodded. "Yep, everything is exactly where we found it. I personally made sure that nobody touched anything."

Morgan glanced back at the phone. "It doesn't make sense for Elijah to throw his phone on the ground. Look at his other electronics; they're spotless! They don't even have dust on them. Someone who cared that much about their electronics wouldn't crack his phone."

"Not unless it was a very bad situation," Prentiss added. "And, have you noticed, there's no sign of a struggle. The only thing out of place is this phone."

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**dun Dun DUN! **

**In all seriousness, the ending of this chapter is a little abrupt, but it was sort of where my brain decided to shut down and run out of ideas for the night. So, I decided that I would just end it where I stopped. It does make a nice, sort of small cliff hanger. And by small, I mean very small.**

**Also, when I started thinking about this story and actually writing it down, I didn't really have a time period in mind. I do know that some people like to know when things take place though. So, if I had to pick a season that this is happening in, it would probably be season 4. I would even say season 5, except Reid's hair is too long in that season.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Considering I haven't done this at all, I should probably do it now.**

**Disclaimer: I do not in any way own Criminal Minds.**

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Hotch and Rossi stood next to the body of Elijah Crowley, waiting patiently for Dr. Palmer to come back with the medical chart. At long last, a tall, slightly hunched over man stepped though the doors and went around to stand at the head of the body.

"Alright, obviously the victim was drowned. His lungs were full of water. He had bruising around his neck in the shape of hands, so he must've been held underwater by his neck. He also had one large bruise down his back. My guess is it came from the 'unsub', as you call him, holding his victim down with his knee." Dr. Palmer looked up from his clipboard and nodded. "There were no other contusions, no defensive wounds, no chemicals or broken bones. The only other thing I found a bit suspicious was that his right hand was a bit bruised, but from what I know he was remodeling his house. That could've easily come from whacking his hand on a board or something."

"Were the other two bodies in the same condition?" Hotch asked.

Palmer flipped though the papers on his clipboard. "Mm, yes. Large bruises around the neck, no sexual assault on any of them. Um, there was something different with the first victim though."

Rossi crossed his arms impatiently. "Which would be?"

"He had a large gash on the side of his head. He was bludgeoned with a heavy object before he was drowned."

"Alright, thank you for your time Dr. Palmer," Hotch said, shaking the man's hand.

As soon as they were out of the morgue and into the sun, Rossi shivered. "I don't know what it was about that man, but gave me the willies."

"You aren't the only one," Hotch replied, pulling out his phone. "I'm going to fill Morgan in. It might help them find something if they know that there were no defensive wounds."

00000

"And there were no other wounds besides the bruises on his neck and back?" Morgan asked incredulously.

_"__There was some bruising on his right hand, but the doctor said that it could've come from something he did while remodeling."_

"Alright, thanks Hotch." Morgan hung up and put his phone away. Prentiss was standing next to him, waiting to hear the report. "There were no defensive wounds at all, just bruising from getting held under the water."

"And there's no sign of forced entry either," Prentiss restated. "So, how did the unsub manage to get into his victim's house and fill a tub full of water without alerting the victim?"

"Elijah would have to know the unsub," Morgan responded. "It's the only way that he would've let someone in his house willingly."

Prentiss motioned toward the bathtub. "Yah but wouldn't it still be kind of strange to find you friend filling your tub up with water? I don't know about you, but I'd be a bit suspicious."

"Maybe, Elijah was." Morgan started. "The unsub could've come over, they might've talked, and then he'd ask to use the bathroom. Elijah would start to wonder what was taking so long so he would come up and find the unsub filling the tub up."

"Then Elijah might figure out that he was in danger, and he would use the only weapon he had at the time, his phone!" Prentiss knelt down next to the phone again. "That might be where the bruising on his hand came from, which means that the speck of blood in the screen could be the unsub's."

00000

It had been almost five hours since I'd found Eli's body, and I still couldn't believe it. Mom, Dad, and all my siblings had arrived about two hours ago, and from the instant they entered the police station they hadn't let me out of their sight. They worried about me more than themselves.

I was currently leaning against Elena, my 15 year old sister. My brothers Ean, who was 17, and Ethan, who was 13, were sitting on the floor trying to eat the donuts they'd been given. I'd already managed to eat mine, along with Elena's. I was so numb that eating and observing were the only things I could manage to do. I'd been watching how the police worked since they'd brought me down to the station to ask me questions.

I was just about to ask Elena if I could lay down when two people that I didn't recognize slipped through the doors. In my opinion, I'd been staring at them for so long I should be able to recognize all the cops in the building. These two didn't look like regular cops though.

One was a pretty blonde woman who marched right over to the chief of police and introduced herself. Her handshake was quick and firm. The person who followed behind her was a tall, lanky man with floppy brown hair. When the woman introduced him, he gave the police chief a little wave instead of offering his hand to shake.

I frowned. Whoever they were, I had no hope that they would be able to help catch my brother's killer. Whoever had done it was probably long gone by now.

00000

"I'm Jennifer Jareau, we spoke on the phone earlier today." The police chief nodded and shook her hand. "This is Dr. Reid," JJ motioned to Reid, who waved.

"I'm Police Chief Michael Hunt. Um, I hope you don't mind me asking, but where's the rest of your team?"

"They are already at the crime scene and the morgue. We thought it would be best to get started right away." JJ glanced around the room. "Is the Crowley family still here? If they are, we would like to interview them."

"Sure, they're right over there." Chief Hunt stepped aside to give the agents a view of the four kids crowded around the bench. "Or, at least the kids are. I have no clue where Mr. and Mrs. Crowley went, although if it were my guess, it would be the lounge. There's a lot of coffee and donuts in there that they've been eating."

JJ said something else to Hunt, but Reid wasn't listening to them anymore. He was taking in the sight of the four heartbroken siblings, the youngest of which was probably barely into middle school. The two boys were trying to force down a couple of donuts while having a snippet of a conversation. The two girls were clinging to each other. One looked ready to collapse at any second from exhaustion.

Reid barely kept himself from jumping in surprise when JJ rested a hand on his shoulder. "Come on Reid, we need to go ahead and talk to them. Hunt said that Erika's the one that found the body."

"Which one's Erika?"

"One of the girls I'm assuming. The others' names are Ean, Elena, and Ethan; they all start with E. Cute idea right?"

"Sure," Reid said, not completely understanding how a bunch of names starting with the same letter could be considered cute. He winced when JJ pushed him forward, towards the Crowley siblings.

As he approached them, he couldn't help but marvel how easy it was to tell that they were brothers and sisters. They all had the same oval faces, high cheek bones, and bright blue eyes. They all had brown hair, although the older boy's hair was very dark and the younger boy's was so light it was almost blonde, while the two girls' hair was somewhere in the middle.

And it wasn't just their appearances that were the same. They all moved the same way too. When they saw Reid start to approach them, they all sat up straighter and bunched their eyebrows together in an almost invisible frown. The boys joined their sisters on the bench, their donuts forgotten.

"Um, hi," Reid stuttered. "I'm Dr. Spencer Reid with the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. Which one of you is Erika?"

"Why do you need to know?" A tall greying man appeared behind the siblings with his arms crossed.

"Jack, leave the man alone. He's an FBI agent," a tired woman chastised him. She had grey streaks through her hair too and appeared very thin. "He's going to help find the man who k—who did this to Elijah."

"So what?" Mr. Crowley growled. "Erika's already been through enough today. She talked to the police and told them everything she knows. There's no reason for her to do it again."

"Daddy, if it'll help, I'll talk to the police a million times," the girl on the left said. Reid glanced down at her. It was amazing how close to being twins the two girls looked. At the same time though, it was obvious that Erika was older than Elena. Her face was longer and was missing all of its childlike chubbiness.

"So, will it help find the man who did this to Eli?" Erika's voice was soft and guarded.

"Yes. See, we have different techniques that we use and it could help us uncover more of what might've happened. The more we know, the closer we can get to catching him." Reid stopped himself before he could start rambling.

Erika nodded. "Alright, I'll do it."

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**Just to clear up any confusion that might come around, I'm only using first person when I'm writing from Erika Crowley's point of view. Everything else will be written in third person (at least I think it's third person. I always get those confused, so if I'm wrong, feel free to correct me).**

**And about the ridiculous names I chose for my OCs: I actually got the idea from a family I know. There are five siblings and every single one of their names starts with a J. I've always thought the idea was kinda cute, so I decided to use it for my OC's family, hence all the E names. When I actually started using the names though, I figured out how ridiculous it is. I don't know how parents who name their kids like that can ever keep the names straight. Seriously, try saying "Eli, Erika, Ean, Elena, Ethan" five times fast and not getting confused! It's crazy!**


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter is being posted in celebration of my last week of school! I am sooooooo happy that summer is almost here. Soon, I won't have to do anything but read, write, and worry about the start of the next school year. It's so great.**

**Also, I would like to give a shout out to all the people who have reviewed this story so far. Your reviews are all so nice and helpful. They really do encourage me to keep on writing this story.**

**So, on to the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own Criminal Minds.**

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I peeled Ean's hand off my arm and followed Dr. Reid to a room in the back. I plopped down in a cushy chair and folded my hands in my lap nervously while Reid got settled. He seemed strangely nervous like he'd never done this before, or like he absolutely hated doing it.

I twirled my bracelet around on my arm. "You know, I don't really think you'll find the guy who killed Eli. This is all just a waste of time because he's probably long gone." I scowled. "Besides, even if you do find him, it's not going to bring Eli back."

"It may not bring him back, but it'll give him justice," Reid offered. "Have-have you heard of the other murders in the area?"

I nodded, not really seeing what that had to do with anything.

"We believe that the person who murdered those two people is the same person that murdered Elijah."

Hearing that made tears form in the corners of my eyes. I wrapped my arms around my waist and forced myself not to cry. Instead, I asked, "If that's true, then why did he pick Elijah?"

"That's what we're trying to find out, and hopefully you'll be able to help us do it."

I looked at him a bit disbelievingly. "Exactly how can I help you find out anything about the guy that did this? I've already told the police everything I know, and it wasn't much. All I did was walk into Eli's house, go through his closet, and find his body."

Reid scooted to the edge of his chair so quickly I had to resist the urge to jump. "There, see you've already told me something that you didn't tell the police. They had no record that you'd gone through your brother's closet." I noticed that he gestured with his hands a lot as he talked and the more excited he became, the faster the words poured out of his mouth. Honestly, it was a little amusing. I forced myself to listen as he plowed on, "I'm sure that there's more to what you saw this morning than you realize. The smallest detail could help us locate the unsub, if you just—"

"The what?"

Reid stopped talking and shook his head. His hair bounced on his head when he did it. "Um, the unsub. It stands for Unknown Subject."

I nodded. "Uh huh."

"I'm going to try and do what's called a cognitive interview with you. All you have to do is close your eyes and think back to this morning."

I stared at him nervously. That was not a time or place that I wanted to go back to. In fact, I had been doing my best to forget it and deny that it happened. I had subconsciously stretched my hands out to rest on my knees and when Reid rested his cool hands on mine, I jumped. My eyes shifted to stare at his long fingers resting on mine and giving me reassurance.

"I'm going to be here the whole time, okay?" I looked back up at his face and nodded. "Close your eyes and picture yourself driving up your brother's driveway. Think about what the road felt like, what temperature it was." I did what he said.

_The December wind was cold, so I was happy. I had decided to wear a thick jacket. I could feel the bumpy gravel road under me as I got out of the car. I looked down at my phone and typed out a message saying I had just pulled up. Then I hit send._

"What are you doing right now?" Reid asked calmly.

"I-I'm sending Eli a message to make sure he knew I was at his house. He hates it when people just walk in out of nowhere. He likes his privacy."

"Alright good. What did you do after sending the message?"

_I stared up at his house jealously, before starting up the porch steps. Before I could knock on the door, I realized that it was open a crack. The metal handle was cold when I grabbed it._

"I'm going through the front door, but it's already open," I whisper. I just realized how dumb I'd been at the time.

"Did it not strike you as suspicious that it was open?"

"A little bit, but at the time I didn't think much about it. I thought maybe he'd been expecting me, so he might've left the door open. Man, how dumb could I have been?"

Reid gave my hands a small squeeze. "What happened after you went into the house?"

_The sound of a game show on TV blared from upstairs. I walked into the kitchen to raid the fridge. It was almost completely bare, just a couple of Dr. Pepper's, a can of salsa, and some string cheese. Then I walked up the really creaky stairs to the upstairs hallways. There are way too many bedrooms for Eli. Even if he did settle down and start a family, he would never use all these bedrooms._

"There wasn't anything in the kitchen except for some string cheese, so I grabbed one and went upstairs."

"What did you do upstairs?"

"I looked at all the bedrooms and wondered what Eli would do with them. I said he should rent them out like a condo," I remembered with a chuckle. "And then…."

_I threw the door open, expecting to see Elijah. When I didn't, I grabbed my phone to check if he had read my message yet. He had. Then I started going through his closet. I wanted to see what kind of clothes he wore around and if they were as baggy as they used to be._

"I barged into his room like I used to do at home. He wasn't there, so I checked my phone. When I saw that he had read the text I sent, I decided he must be fixing something somewhere and he'd be back in a minute. Then I started going through his closet to see—"

"Wait, you said he'd read the message you sent when you arrived?"

I frowned. "Yah, what about it?"

"It's just that, well, that's not possible."

My eyes opened up in a flash. "What do you mean 'it's not possible'?"

"Well, if you sent it as soon as you pulled up at the house and your brother read it in between that time and the time that you found his body, that would only leave about five or six minutes for the unsub to get your brother upstairs to the bathroom and drown him. And personally, I don't think that's a reasonable amount of time to do all that, especially since you were walking around directly beneath the bathroom. Even with the TV blaring, you would've heard the pounding on the ceiling."

"So, who did read the message then?"

"The unsub must've. That would also make sense, because the phone was found on the bathroom floor. He could've read it, realized you were coming in, and fled the scene."

I ripped my hands away from Reid's and covered my face with them. After taking a few deep breaths, I was calm enough to ask, "So, the unsub was in the house at about the same time as I was?"

"Yes." Reid's answer was short and precise, almost like a robot.

"Then, I could've caught him, or at least gotten a look at him?"

There was silence for a moment. Then, "Erika, did your brother have a password to unlock his phone?"

I uncovered my face and nodded. "Yah, he kept passwords on everything, his phone, his computer, any of his movie streaming channels on TV. Like I said before, he was pretty private. He liked keeping his things to himself."

"Were his passwords easy to figure out?"

"Not really. I never once figured any of them out by myself. I used to try all the time when I was little to get onto his computer, but the only way I could ever actually do it was when he gave me hints."

"So, someone would have to know him well in order to get a guess at his password," Reid summarized. I just nodded.

He stood up, thanked me and said he would be back, and slipped out the door, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he left. I leaned back into the chair to wait.

* * *

**I have some good news for the people who are liking this story. I have officially (sort of) come up with an actual plot outline for this story, which means no more rambling on without having a clue where it's going! There are still a couple of loopholes that need to be filled, but that is okay because I think I know how it's going to end!**

**Having an outline will also (hopefully) make the updates faster. I'm not promising anything, but that is my goal. Goals are good, right?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's another chapter for all my lovely readers. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.**

* * *

_"__Hotchner," _the voice on the other end of the phone said.

Reid immediately started talking fast. "Hotch, whoever this unsub is, he knew Elijah Crowley pretty well."

_"__How well?"_

"Well enough to be able to guess the password on his iPhone that his sister couldn't even get. The unsub read the message that Erika sent to her brother when she pulled up at the house after her brother was already dead, and the phone was found on the bathroom floor where he was killed. That means that the unsub must've stuck around after killing Elijah for some reason."

_"__Alright, good job Reid. We're on our way back now. I think Morgan and Prentiss are heading back to the station too. We can go over all our finding as soon as we all arrive."_

Reid put the phone back into his pocket and headed back into the room with Erika.

00000

I watched as Dr. Reid closed the door behind him and walked back over to the chair he had been sitting in just a few minutes before.

"Thank you for all your help. You did very well and you gave us information that could help us narrow down the suspect list."

"We're done?" I asked.

"For now," Reid replied. "We may still have a few questions about what happened, but for now we're finished. You can go back and sit with your family, or you can convince them to head to a hotel. We just got here, so we're still going to have to find more evidence before solving this case."

I bit my lip and debated whether or not I should ask him what was on my mind. After a minute, the side that wanted revenge/justice won over the side that wanted to get everything over with and move on. "You care about us right? I mean, you understand what we've gone through. We just lost a family member and we'll never be able to get him back."

Reid nodded a bit unsurely. He looked confused, like he didn't understand where this was going, but from what I'd seen from him he probably already had a few hunches.

"I've read enough books and seen enough movies to know what happens in investigations like these," I said. He still looked confused, so I expanded on what I'd said. "Family and friends of the victims are often pushed out of the investigation so that the police or FBI can handle everything their way and not have anyone get in their way. The victim's family doesn't get to know what happened until the very end of the case. They get to find out that the bad guy was caught and that's it."

The confused look on Reid's face had disappeared. I knew that he probably could guess what I wanted, but I had to say it myself. I wanted to make sure he knew exactly what I was asking.

"All I want is to know how the investigation is going. When you have it, I want to know the profile. I want to know what sick person decided my brother had to die." My voice had gotten louder and louder the longer I talked. It dropped back down to a timid volume when I finally asked my question. "Please, can you tell me what's going on? That's all I'm asking. I want to be involved."

Reid glanced up at the window behind me. I turned around to see two men walking in. Probably more agents from the BAU. I turned back to Reid to find his eyes locked on me. When his brown eyes met my blue ones, I was surprised by the intensity I saw in his. I could practically see the gears turning in his head as he calculated whether or not keeping me updated on the case was a good idea or not. Finally, he nodded.

"I'll let you know how the investigation is going, and if we have any new leads I'll tell you. I'll also let you know if we need any other information about your brother. That doesn't mean that you can just take things into your own hands though, alright?"

I nodded, relieved. Hopefully, he wouldn't see through me to my real motive. He was a profiler after all.

"Thank you, Dr. Reid. You have no clue how thankful I am. Thank you, thank you," I said all in rush.

Reid just nodded quickly and stood up. "As-as I said, I'm finished asking you questions. See if you can get your family to go to a hotel to rest, okay?" He opened the door and motioned for me to leave first. I complied, and went directly to where the remaining part of my family was still standing.

As soon as they saw me, they all jumped up and surrounded me, hugging on me and fretting and trying to make sure I was still okay. I patted Ethan on the head and gave him a sad smile.

"I'm okay," I whispered.

"Do they know anything? Are they close to finding him?" Mom asked.

Dad snorted. "How could they be? It's not even been a full day yet."

"What did he want to know?" Ean asked.

I shrugged. "Just general stuff. He asked me about what I did when I first got there and how the house looked and all. He asked me about Elijah and I told him he was a very private person who really liked passwords."

Elena sniffled.

"Are they finished questioning you?" Dad asked.

I nodded yes. "He said that you should all head to a hotel and try to get some rest. They'll contact you if they learn anything new."

Mom cleared her throat. "What about you?"

"They want me to stay here in case they have any more questions." I immediately recognized the look on her face. "Mom, I'll be fine. I'm not going to have a nervous break-down, and if I start crying there are plenty of bathrooms I can lock myself in."

Mom gave me a watery smile and nodded. "Alright. We'll find a hotel, but if you need me for anything, even just talk to for a minute, call me. Understood?"

"Yes Mom."

I watched as they all went out the doors. When they were all out of sight, I collapsed onto a chair in relief. If Mom found out that I was free to go and had sent them away without me anyway, she would strangle me. I didn't care though. I was determined not to miss any part of the investigation. I was going to be the one to find the murderer and kill him.

* * *

**That certainly escalated quickly. If there's anything anime has taught me, it's that a vengeful, angry, emotional girl with a dead brother is never a good thing. Also, I don't know why, but that last sentence of the chapter makes me laugh whenever I read it. Maybe it's the irony of a killer being killed, I don't know. I love irony...**

**Anyways, so I was just going through my collection of Criminal Minds episodes and watching random ones the other day, when I actually came across one where one of the characters had the same last name as my OCs. Unfortunately, they pronounced the name wrong, or at least _I_ think they did. So, for clarification: the Crow part of Crowley is pronounced the same as the bird crow.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Wow, I am so sorry about this mega late update. Life just sort of came in and took me for a ride. I would list all my amazingly, completely true excuses, but I'm sure that no one out there really cares. **

**I do want to say, that I am actually very surprised I was even able to update today. I'm currently on vacation in a part of the country that has literally no cell service or wifi anywhere, and yet we actually found a little hotel that has good enough wifi for me to log onto my profile. It's amazing!**

**Disclaimer: I don't and never will own Criminal Minds.**

* * *

As soon as the entire BAU team was at the station, they gathered in the conference room to go over everything they had found so far. Reid was drumming his fingers on the table, thinking over his interview with Erika. For someone who had just lost her brother, she seemed very calm. Almost too calm, as if she was on some kind of mission.

"What have we found out so far?" Hotch asked, successfully yanking Reid from his thoughts.

Prentiss filled everyone in on what she and Morgan had found. "Elijah's phone was on the floor in his bathroom. The screen is shattered and there's some blood on it that we think might be the unsub's."

Hotch looked up from his papers. "Did he try to use it as a weapon?"

"It would make sense," Morgan replied. "There was no sign of forced entry, so Elijah either knew the unsub, or he didn't look like a threat. He might've used an excuse to go up to the bathroom, and when Elijah went up to see what was taking so long, the unsub might've attacked him, which made Elijah use the only weapon he had: his phone."

"The unsub would have to be strong enough to hold down a full grown man fighting for his life," Rossi deduced.

"He would have to know Elijah Crowley," Reid stated, "and very well too. He was able to figure out the password on his phone and read a text that his sister sent to him minutes after he was killed."

"And we know that all of the victims so far have some kind of connection to the medical field, but do we know how he's finding them?" Prentiss asked.

Hotch picked up his phone and a second later Garcia was talking.

_"__Your wish is my command, sir!"_

"Garcia, were you able to find out any other connections between the victims?"

_"__Uh, nothing sir. They were all from different towns, different socio-economic backgrounds, different school systems, different almost everything. The only thing they seem to have in common is what they did or planned to do as a job."_

"Alright. Garcia, I want you to look at Elijah Crowley and see if you can find any friends of his that might have something in common with the other victims."

_"__A friend, like a best friend? You think his best friend killed him?"_ Garcia's voice was shaky in disbelief.

"It's okay, Baby Girl. Just see if you can find anything," Morgan coaxed.

_"__I can do that. Oh, and that reminds me,"_ Garcia exclaimed. _"I went through everything on the laptop you gave me, and nothing. It is squeaky clean. Nothing but a ton of doctory and dentisty looking websites. That boy had jobs on the brain. He must've visited every site in existence making sure he was prepared. Between that and school, there's no wonder I couldn't find any dirt on there."_

"Thanks Mama," Morgan said.

_"__You are so ever welcome!"_ Garcia chirped.

"Jobs," Rossi murmured.

"What's that?" Hotch asked.

Rossi turned to Reid. "Didn't you say that it looked like Sandy Miller was dressed for an interview?"

Reid nodded.

"And Roger Clint had just opened up his dental clinic, and Elijah Crowley was searching for jobs. These killings revolve around their jobs. All the victims have been looking for or just accepted a medical job."

"We need to talk to talk to Sandy Miller's roommate and find out where she was going for an interview that night." Hotch quickly got Garcia back on the phone. "Who is Sandy Miller's roommate?"

_"__That would be a… Dakota Lewis. And lucky for you, she hasn't left for the holidays yet. She just used her credit card at the campus book store about 20 minutes ago. And I sent you her address."_

"Thanks Garcia. Dave, you and Prentiss can go and talk to her."

Prentiss nodded and grabbed her coat off the back of the chair.

"I'm going to start on the geographic profile," Reid decided.

Hotch nodded and looked at the clock. It was getting to be late. "Morgan, have you given the blood sample to the lab?"

"Not yet. I'm heading there now."

Reid didn't hear any of what Morgan and Hotch were saying. He was too busy walking in circles around the board and looking through cabinets. After Morgan left, Hotch stayed and watched for a few minutes. Finally, he asked, "Reid, what are you doing?"

"I need some pins and I can't find any."

"There's a box next to the coffee maker I think."

Reid was up and out the door instantly. He loped over to the coffee maker and poured himself a cup before filling it with sugar. He was just about to grab the box of push pins and get back to work, when JJ came over to get some coffee.

"Hotch decided that we're going to have a press conference tomorrow as soon as we have the profile set," she told him.

"Really? Will that help?"

"It'll help the community," JJ said. "This is a small town, and it's only two weeks from Christmas. Something like this is sure to upset them, and if we don't do something soon, it could start a panic."

Reid nodded and took a long sip of his coffee. When he put his mug down, his eyes landed on a lone figure leaning against the far end of the bench. He frowned in a thoughtful way.

"Hey, I thought you told her to go to a hotel and get some rest," JJ said, motioning with her mug at Erika.

"I did, she just didn't go." Reid sighed and started walking towards her.

00000

Dr. Reid walked over to where I was sleepily munching on a candy cane I'd picked off one of the decorations laying around the building.

"Shouldn't you be eating something better for you than that? You've been through a lot today." Reid's comment was offhand like it didn't matter.

I smiled at his effort. "I'm not hungry."

"Technically, you probably are considering you haven't eaten in-" he glanced at his watch which I happened to notice he wore over his sleeve "-about six hours."

"Well then, I don't feel hungry. Is that a better way to say it?" It came out a bit snappier than I wanted it to, and Reid looked a little taken aback. My stomach then chose that exact moment to rumble as loudly as possible. I blushed a bright red and Reid smiled in amusement.

He sat down on the bench next to me and turned so that he was directly facing me. "How about this," he said in a quiet voice like he was in the middle of some drug deal, "I'll take you to get some real food, if," he paused, letting the "if" sink in, "you go back to the hotel and get some sleep afterwards."

I shook my head. "No deal. I'm staying here."

Reid shrugged and started to stand up. "Alright, if you want to starve yourself, I'm not going to stop you."

As soon as he took his first step to walk away, my stomach growled again, even bigger than the first time. He glanced back with a smirk.

Ten minutes later, Reid had pulled on a black coat and a long purple scarf and we were in a government car, scouring town for a restaurant. Before long, we pulled into a simple looking place. It wasn't much, but it was good enough for a small meal. The only thing I ended up ordering was a glass of water and a small bowl of broccoli cheddar soup. Reid ordered less than I did. All he got was a cup of coffee.

We sat in silence while we waited for the waitress to come back with our orders. I watched Reid's long, nimble fingers pick at his scarf. He would fix it, then pick at it, then straighten it, then twist it, then fix it over and over. Somehow, it was mystifying to watch his fingers weave in and out of the fabric. By the time our meal came, I was almost in a trance.

Reid managed to knock me out of it though when he asked the waitress to bring him their sugar dispenser. The waitress of course complied. When she handed Reid the sugar shaker, he turned it upside down over his coffee and let about half of it pour into the liquid. He handed the sugar back to the waitress who looked like she was about to gag. Then, he started stirring it. He did it lazily and tiredly like he was doing it more to pass time than to actually dissolve the gallon of sugar he'd poured in.

After a minute or two, he pulled the spoon out, dried it off on a napkin, and took a long slurp of his coffee. I cringed at the thought of the grainy drink going down my throat. When he set the mug back down on the table, I looked from the hyped up coffee to his lanky build and wondered how it was possible.

I looked back up at his face when he cleared his throat. His lips were pursed in thought and he looked on the verge of asking a question. I played around with my soup and decided to wait for him to ask.

"Do you know your brother's password on his phone?"

That was not a question I had expected. "Um, yes. It was the one password of his that I knew. It was 1-2-3-2."

Reid tilted his head. "How'd he come up with that?"

"Eli got it from his favorite song by Keith Urban. There's a line in it that says, '1, 2, 3, baby don't think twice'. He used the 1, 2, 3 part from that, and then the next letter, b, is the second letter of the alphabet. 1-2-3-2."

"He liked puzzles and riddles," Reid said. It wasn't a question. Suddenly Reid's eyes lit up. "Was your brother part of a club that made and solved riddles?"

"Uh, he may have been. I'm not—I'm not sure. He didn't really tell us any of the extra things he did during college."

He pointed at my soup and said, "Eat," before digging around in his bag. He pulled out a phone and quickly dialed a number.

"Garcia, you're on speaker," he said.

I smiled. He wasn't hiding anything from me, just like he'd promised.

_"__Ah, if it isn't the boy wonder,"_ a perky voice responded. _"It's really quiet where you are. What are you doing? Oh, please tell me you aren't at another crime scene."_

"No, I'm eating dinner. Garcia, can you tell me if Elijah Crowley was in any riddle solving clubs at any point?"

_"__Of course I can."_ The sound of rapid tapping could be heard in the background. _"Give me a second and…yep, you were right on. His first two years in college, he was part of a riddle solving club. He had to withdraw after that though because he needed to focus more time on his studies. Too bad, this stuff looks like fun."_

"Can you send me a list of people who were in that club at the same time as Elijah?"

_"__Sure thing. Hey, listen to this one: Someone makes it, but has no need of it. Someone buys it, and has no use for it. Someone uses it but can neither see nor feel it. What is it?"_

Reid answered almost instantly. "A coffin."

I blinked. "Geez, I didn't even get to think about it. What are you, a genius or something?"

_"__That, my unknown friend, is exactly what he is. Reid, are you eating dinner alone with a girl I don't know? Are you on a date?!"_

I'd never seen Reid move as fast as he did to turn the phone off.

* * *

**So, hopefully that chapter was worth the long wait. And hopefully there won't be another long wait like that one. My dreaded dance camp is over and as soon as I get back home in about two weeks, updates should be back on track. Yay!**

**By the way, I have no idea if riddle clubs actually exist. If they do, I think it might be pretty cool to join one. Riddles are awesome! And yes, I know that makes me a huge nerd, but I am a-okay with that.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm starting to really hate the rain. Every time a storm pops up, the internet goes out. Thankfully, there's supposed to be a small dry spell for a few days. I get to post my chapter! Yay!**

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Criminal Minds.**

* * *

After Reid had forced me to swallow most of my soup, he drove me to the hotel that my family was staying at. Reid opened my door and walked me inside like a gentleman, but I'm pretty sure he was only doing it to make sure I actually went in and stayed there. I found out which room Mom and Elena were staying in and started to head in that direction. Before I did though, I turned around and threw my arms around Reid in a hug. His thin frame instantly went stiff as a board.

I smiled and whispered, "Thank you for keeping your promise, and for taking me to eat. It was really sweet."

He awkwardly patted my back. "Y-you're welcome."

I let go of him, walked over to the elevator, and waved at him. He spun around and walked out the sliding doors as fast as he could without actually running. I sighed. He was adorable.

When the elevator arrived at the ground floor, I rushed through the doors without looking where I was going. Almost immediately, I was thrown backwards and hit the floor with a thump.

"Oh wow, I am an idiot," the man I had run into said. He held his hand out for me to take. I grabbed it and he hauled me up like I weighed less than a feather. "I am so sorry. Really, I'm—" He stopped and leaned forward a little, as if to get a better look at my face. I took this as my cue to say something.

"It's fine, really. I'm just a bit distracted, and I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." I glanced back at the elevator, which was closing. "I, um, I should be going now," I decided. I had barely taken one step forward when the man held his arm out in front of me, blocking my route.

"Wait," he said slowly. "You wouldn't happen to be Erika Crowley, would you?"

My eyebrows pulled together in confusion. "I…maybe. Why?"

"I just finished talking to your family. I'm a friend of your brother's and, well, I just wanted to tell his relatives how sorry I am about what happened. Eli is going to be missed by everyone that knew him."

I took a shaky breath and blinked hard to keep the tears in my eyes. To distract myself, I looked the man up and down to see what kind of friends Eli had kept. He was tall with sandy blonde hair and a disarming smile. He was well muscled and seemed pretty athletic. If I had to guess, I would say that he was the same age as Elijah was: 25.

"You know my name, but I don't know yours," I said.

"Alex Schmidt." He grabbed my hand again and gave it a firm shake before slipping a piece of paper out of his front shirt pocket and into my hand. "Here, I forgot to give this to your parents upstairs. If you or your family ever needs anything, give me a call. It's sort of my way of letting you know how much Eli meant to me, you know?"

I nodded my head. "Yah, sounds good. I'll be sure to take you up on that offer." I slipped the paper into my jacket pocket for safekeeping.

After that, I said goodbye to him and escaped to the elevator as quickly and politely as I could. I needed to take shelter in the hotel room before I burst into tears in the middle of the hallway.

00000

Reid's heart was still thumping by the time he got back to the station. He would never understand why girls liked to hug people. Yes, it was a way to express thankfulness and delight, and if it was a normal thing that occurred in their family then often times it was considered okay to do to others. But still, Reid did not like being touched, not to mention hugged, by strange girls who might or might not be transferring the wrong emotions to him because of the recent and traumatic death of their brother.

With a sigh, Reid slid out of the car and walked into the police station again. Rossi and Prentiss had just gotten back from questioning Dakota Lewis, the second victim's roommate, and were filling Hotch in on what she had said.

"Apparently Sandy had multiple interviews she was going to that day. She was looking for a job that would pay well and give her experience," Rossi was saying.

"So, something medical," Hotch concluded.

"Yep."

Prentiss brought out a small sticky note with a couple of things listed on it. "Dakota was also able to find us this. It's the list of places she was going to go. She has one crossed off, and when I ran it past Garcia I found out it's the clinic that Roger Clint, the first victim, had opened."

"That's a bit of a coincidence," Hotch stated. "Tomorrow we need to run by all of these businesses and see how many Sandy visited. We also need to see if any of them match something in Elijah Crowley's life."

"Oh, speaking of Elijah Crowley, I found out something that may help us locate the unsub," Reid piped up. "I asked Erika about his passcode on his phone, and it turned out to be a puzzle having to do with his favorite song. Elijah was part of a riddle solving club in college and since the unsub knew how to crack his passcode, that might've been where they first met."

"Alright, get a list of the people in that club and see if any of the names correspond with anyone in the other two victims' lives."

"Already on it." And then Reid remembered that he'd never done the geographic profile. Instead he'd gotten sidetracked looking for pins and he'd ended up taking Erika to dinner.

With a groan, he spun around, grabbed the pins off the coffee table where he'd left them, and marched toward the room where the map was pinned up. Unfortunately, he hadn't been looking where he was walking and he ran right into Morgan who was coming back from dropping off the cell phone for testing.

"Whoa, Pretty Boy, what's your hurry? Trying to finish up here so you can get back to your date?"

Reid froze. "What? Who told you that?"

Morgan's pearly white smile widened. "An excited blonde over the phone."

Reid shook his head, silently vowing revenge on Garcia. "That was not a date! I was taking Erika to dinner—" he plowed through Morgan's exclamation of, "Ah, so that's who the girl was!" "—because she hadn't eaten since she found her brother's body, and then I dropped her off at her hotel so that she could sleep. That is not a date! That's called being a—a helpful person!"

Morgan's keen eyes took in Reid's fast talking, his over-the-top hand gesturing, and his still red cheeks and shook his head with a smile. "I don't know how you do it, but that transference thing works pretty well for you."

Reid's cheeks burned even brighter. Without another word, he sidestepped around Morgan and disappeared into the conference room to work on the geographic profile. He felt like sticking the pins in something really hard, and it would probably be easier to do to the map than Morgan.

While Reid took out his anger and embarrassment on the poor board, Morgan went to fill Hotch in on what he had found out.

"They ran the drop of blood through the system, and nothing. He hasn't been arrested before. We do know that his blood type is B+ and he's healthy, but that's about it."

Hotch nodded. "It was worth a shot." He looked through the window into the conference room where Reid was basically stabbing the board. "What did you say to him?"

"Oh, I was just teasing him about the Lila Archer incident a few years ago and about the Erika Crowley incident today."

That caught Hotch by surprise. "The Erika Crowley incident? When was this?"

Morgan shrugged. "According to Garcia, only about an hour ago."

Reid, oblivious to Morgan and Hotch's conversation, was staring at the board. His lips were pressed together and he was leaning back on the table. All of a sudden, he felt someone behind him. When he turned around, he saw that it was Hotch.

"I've finished the geographic profile, but I don't think it helps us much this time." Reid stood up and pointed at the different spots he had marked on the map. "Roger Clint and Elijah Crowley were both murdered in their homes on opposite sides of town. Sandy Miller was murdered in a hotel room she had rented for the night, but it's over on the commercial side of town. Going off of this, the entire town is his comfort zone, and that doesn't really narrow it down any."

Hotch nodded. "It does tell us that he is most likely from here, or that he probably moved here long enough ago to know this town as well as someone who's lived here their entire life."

Reid nodded, but kept his gaze fixed on the map, trying to decide if he was missing something. Hotch walked over and put a hand on his shoulder.

"We're about to head to the hotel. It's pretty late and we won't be able to get much more done tonight."

"I just, I feel like there's more that I can do and I'm just missing it." Reid's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Reid, you are doing everything in your power to help find the unsub. Just because you've gotten a little closer to one of the victims doesn't mean that you're somehow more responsible for everything that's happening."

Reid looked back at Hotch. "News travels fast," he stated.

"As long as it doesn't interfere with the case, I don't care what your relationship with Erika is."

"It's not a relationship!" Reid was tempted to stomp his foot to help drive his point in, but decided against it. It would only succeed in making him look childish.

"I didn't say you were in a relationship, I just said I didn't care what your relationship is. There is a difference you know," Hotch said with a small, amused grin.

Reid's eyebrows pulled together in confusion. "Having a relationship with a witness in a case is against regulations, and you're saying that you don't mind?"

"I said, 'as long as it doesn't interfere with the case'."

"Oh."

"Come on Reid, everyone's waiting outside for us."

00000

Hotch was woken up at about 5:47 the next morning by his phone ringing. He rolled over in bed with a groan and scooted his hand along the surface of the bedside table. When he finally located his phone, he punched the answer button without opening his eyes and pressed the phone to his ear.

"Hotchner."

_"__Another body's been discovered."_ The voice on the other end of the phone sounded like Police Chief Hunt.

"Where? When?" Hotch asked. He sat up in bed and fumbled around for a light switch.

_"__About ten minutes ago in one of the Oak Hills Apartments on Garden Drive."_

"Alright, we'll be there in 20 minutes." He hung up and dialed another number.

_"__Hello?"_ JJ's sleepy voice was heard on the other end of the phone.

"Start waking the team up. Another body's been found."

* * *

**So, in case it isn't obvious enough (because it may not be) I decided to add a tiny bit of romance to this story. And by tiny, I mean_ tiny_. No crazy make out scenes or anything like that. I thought it might be cute to let Erika get a little crush on Reid which gives him an excuse to act all flustered and adorable. Because an embarrassed Reid is _so _cute!**

**Also, I would like to add that we are now officially halfway through this story! Isn't that great! I am majorly proud of myself for making it this far. This may just be the first story I ever completely finish! Let's hope so.**


	8. Chapter 8

**So, I'm still alive. Who would've guessed, right? After taking literally an almost 5 month break, I am back. Thank you to those who are still reading this story. Since life is no longer throwing curve balls at me, and the world has started spinning again, I can actually write. And wow, does it feel amazing! I have never realized how terrible not writing is until I was forced to not write.**

**But anyways, since I am on a week break (that is already more than half gone) I have been writing almost nonstop. I've gotten the rest of the chapters laid out, and I'm actually excited to say that we are nearing the end of this story. It's kind of sad, but I'm too proud to be sad about it. This may the first real story that I've ever actually finished!**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Criminal Minds, still wish I did.**

* * *

The entire team was up and ready to go in about five minutes. They all met in the lobby in front of the doors, except for Reid who had stopped by the breakfast room to grab a cup of coffee. Surprisingly, he wasn't the only one who'd had the same idea. A boy with sleepy blue eyes and messy dark brown hair was sloshing around a cup of apple juice.

"Ean Crowley?" Reid asked a little hesitantly.

Ean tilted his head and squinted up at the agent. He frowned. "What are you doing up so early? Did you find a lead?"

"N-not exactly," Reid stuttered. His ambiguity didn't help matters though. In fact, it almost made it more obvious.

"He killed again," Ean concluded. It wasn't a question so Reid didn't answer. He just set the sugar container back down and gave Ean one final glance before taking off to join the rest of the BAU.

00000

When they reached Oak Hills Apartments, the place was already swarmed with police and media. Hotch immediately decided to let JJ set up a press conference so that they could calm the community down. While JJ dealt with that, the rest of the BAU climbed up a short flight of stairs to apartment 202.

Chief Hunt met them at the door. "Her name's Tasha Marks. She was drowned just like all the others. There doesn't seem to be any sign of forced entry or a struggle."

Morgan dug his phone out of his pocket and punched in a number.

_"__Give it to me."_

"Hey Gossip Girl, what all can you get on Tasha Marks?"

_"__Anything you want. Is the Gossip Girl thing because of what I told you about Reid?"_

"Maybe."

There was a long sigh heard on the other end of the phone. _"He's not mad at me is he? I was just teasing, and I didn't mean for him to take it badly!"_

"Don't worry about Reid, okay. " Out of the corner of his eye Morgan saw Reid glance over his shoulder at him. "He loves you, and as soon as you apologize he'll melt, and it'll all be good. Now, what is there on Tasha Marks."

_"__Well, she moved to Hope, Mississippi a few weeks ago, and she hasn't had much of a chance to make new friends. No family in the area. She just accepted a job as a nurse at the hospital there yesterday. That stinks."_

"Alright, thanks girl. Stay sweet."

_"__You know me."_

Morgan walked over to where Hotch was examining the young woman's body. He looked up when Morgan started talking.

"Tasha Marks matches our other victims. She had just taken a job at the hospital yesterday."

Rossi strolled up next to them holding a piece of paper. "According to this hospital schedule, her first day of work was going to be today."

Hotch nodded. "We're ready to give the profile."

00000

I was rudely awakened by an awful ringing. I yanked the pillow out from under my head and threw it across the room. It hit Elena on the head and she sat up with a jerk.

"Answer the phone," I mumbled.

"You answer it. It's your phone," she growled, lying back down.

I ripped the phone off the charger and quickly hit the answer button. "Who is this?" I asked sleepily.

_"__Uh, this is Dr. Reid with the BAU. You wanted me to keep you up to date on the investigation, so this is me just, uh, keeping my promise. We're about to give the profile down at the police station."_

"You're what? Wait—wait for me! I'll be there in five minutes!"

_"__Um, sure we'll—"_

I didn't wait to hear what he said. I hung up, threw the phone in my purse, and started looking around for a pair of pants. I had worn a t-shirt and a sports bra to bed, so as soon as I threw on a pair of blue jeans and stacked my hair on top of my head, I was ready to go. I slipped on my boots and jacket, and rocketed through the door and down the hall. I even took the stairs so that I wouldn't have to wait on the elevator. The only thing I didn't count on was literally running into my brother on the way out.

I had decided to race through the breakfast room so that I could grab a muffin on my way out. I was in such a hurry that I didn't see Ean walking towards me until it was too late. We both wound up on the ground, me with a cup of apple juice soaking my shirt.

"Ean, what are you doing?" I grumbled, standing up to see how much I'd gotten on me. The entire front of my shirt was covered in the sticky, sugary drink.

"What am I doing, you mean what are you doing! You're racing around like a mad woman!"

"I am mad! That's the whole point!"

Ean blinked and ran his hands over his face. "Erika, I've been awake since 2:30. Run that by me again."

I spun around and started walking towards the hotel entrance, shouting over my shoulder as I went. "I'm mad at the horrible person who murdered Eli! I'm going to the police station so I can find out who we're looking for and catch him and kill him myself!"

Ean blinked and then the next thing I knew, he was walking alongside me. All he said was, "I'm coming with you." I just shrugged.

When we reached the station, we had to plow our way through a group of reporters, cameramen, photographers, and journalists. Apparently they had decided to hold a press conference to alert the whole town about who they were looking for. Ean and I managed to slip through the doors into the police station, where all the police were standing or sitting around the members of the BAU. Some were taking notes, the rest were just listening.

"This unsub is highly intelligent, neat, and organized," Morgan was saying. "He knows how to make sure he doesn't leave any DNA lying around. The one time he did leave a drop of blood was an accident. He had just killed his friend and he was acting more flustered than usual."

"He is also extremely fit," Prentiss took over. "He is strong enough to hold down a full grown man who is fighting for his life without any trouble. He probably has a gym membership. He is single and works a job that gives him access to his victims' work information."

"Based on the range of his victims' ages this unsub is most likely in his early to mid 20's," Hotch added. "He is charismatic, friendly, and easy to talk to. His neighbors and friends will be surprised to find out what he is."

Rossi cleared his throat before he began talking. "This unsub craves power and control. This is because he feels like he lacks control in his everyday life. It's why he drowns his victims. He grabs them by their throats and holds them underwater so that he can feel the life leaving them."

"One thing that is unique about this unsub is the thing that is attracting him to his victims," Reid said. He was using his hand gestures again and I couldn't help but smile while I watched him talk. "Most serial killers choose people based on hair colors, body types, facial features, even family structure. This unsub is choosing his victims based on their jobs, which is extremely rare. In this case, all of the victims have worked some kind of medical job. Some recent tire tracks were also found on an old logging road a few miles from Elijah Crowley's house. That road is most likely how he got in and out of Elijah's property without being seen. Since only local people would know about a road like that, we believe the unsub lives in Hope."

"It's possible that he was just turned down by someone in the medical profession and that could be what set him off. Check out people who recently applied to a medical school, or who had job applications denied by hospitals or clinics around the area. Thank you," Hotch said, ending the meeting.

As the cops broke up into groups, I dodged around them to get to Reid. As soon as his eyes met mine, he blushed and gave me a small, lopsided smile. I smiled back and grabbed him in a tight hug again, not caring how many people were around us.

"Thanks for calling me," I said before I let him go.

"N-no problem," he stuttered, picking at his scarf. He looked me up and down for the first time, taking in my sticky shirt, lopsided bun, and makeup-free, sleep-stained face. "You, um, look like you were in a hurry."

"Is that profile completely accurate?" Ean asked, saving me from having to answer.

"It's as accurate as it can get," Reid informed him. "Although, you and the rest of your family should be on the lookout for any of your brother's old friends that show up. The unsub is most likely feeling guilty and stressed about killing Elijah which is most likely why he killed again so soon. He may come around and tell you how sorry he is for your brother's death to try and make up for what he did."

"He's going to try to apologize for killing our brother?" Ean asked disgustedly.

Reid grimaced. "Well, not in those exact words."

"Then how are we supposed to know who the unsub is? We've had a ton of visits already from people who feel sorry for us, and twice as many phone calls and fruit baskets," Ean practically growled.

I rested my hand on Ean's shoulder and said, "We'll be on the lookout, don't worry. Until then though, I'm going to hang out in here."

Reid nodded, reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out a candy cane. "For when you get hungry," he said, handing it to me. I took it slowly and watched as Reid whisked past me to the join the rest of the agents.

Ean made a gagging noise. "You like him don't you?" he asked.

* * *

**Well I hope you enjoyed. Once again, thank you to everyone who is still reading this story. And another thank you to all the reviews, follows, and favorites I've gotten. It means a lot! **


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm very glad I am out of school for the rest of the year. Now don't get me wrong, I actually enjoy school. The only part of the day I don't like that much is lunch, which is kinda funny if you think about it. But school can really tire you out, and the last few weeks were the most stressful ones I've ever lived through. Thankfully though, I have survived to write another day!**

**Anyways, enough blabbing from me. On with the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Nope. Still not mine.**

* * *

"Dave and I are going to check out the top half of this list. Morgan, you and Reid can take the bottom half," Hotch was saying when Reid walked over.

"What list?" Reid asked.

Rossi held up a handwritten list on a sticky note. "The second victim's list of places to visit," he answered.

"I'm going to stay here and see if I can dig into that list of people Reid found from Elijah's old riddle club," Prentiss decided. "One of them has to be the unsub."

Hotch nodded. "Alright, see if JJ can help you with that. It's a surprisingly long list."

Prentiss nodded. "Will do."

Morgan slapped Reid on the back. "Come on, Lover Boy. Let's go find our unsub," he said with an impish grin.

"Lover Boy?" Reid sputtered, glancing at the edge of the room where Erika was still standing with Ean. He ducked down to escape Morgan's arm.

"Ah, don't play dumb with me," Morgan teased. "I saw you give Erika that candy cane."

Reid folded his arms defensively. "It was a snack for when she gets hungry later. In case you haven't noticed, there isn't much to eat in this building besides stale coffee."

"Whatever you say." Morgan gave one more shake of his head before leading the way towards the building's exit. Once they had gotten out of earshot of Erika and her brother, he leaned in closer to Reid and said, "She's a keeper. If I were you, I wouldn't pass up the opportunity. She's pretty, smart, and has obviously already taken a liking to you."

Reid pressed his lips together in annoyance. "Yes, and she is also feeling very conflicted and out of control because of her brother's death. I'm not going to manipulate her emotions just so I can get her to like me." He swung the SUV door open harder than necessary.

Morgan held his hands up in surrender. "Whoa, take it easy man." He slid into the driver's seat and closed the door. "I'm not saying you should manipulate her, definitely not. I meant you should just ease yourself in and be the person that she can talk to. You might not think it, but growing up with that many siblings can feel almost like being smothered at times. You would be surprised how grateful she may be just to have a friend outside her family to talk to."

Reid sighed. "Let's just focus on following Sandy Miller's schedule."

00000

"You like him, don't you?" Ean demanded.

I blushed a furious shade of red. "No. Why do you think that I automatically fall in love with every guy I come in contact with?"

"Because you usually do."

"I do not! Besides, he is helping find the person who murdered Elijah," Ean took in a sharp gasp of air when I said that, "and if falling in love with him would help them, then I would do it in a heartbeat."

Ean shuffled his feet. "Erika, I know you want to catch the guy who… hurt Eli, but—" He stopped mid sentence and seemed to rethink what he was about to say. "Look, we can't do anything here. Even the FBI agents left. How about we go back to the hotel, get everybody, and go get something to eat. Elijah wouldn't want us to starve ourselves just because we were looking for his killer." He had to force out the last word. After clearing his throat he said, "Maybe we can find something to do with all the flowers and food we've gotten."

I thought about it, although I knew he was just trying to get me out of the police station for a little bit and maybe get some fresh air. I shrugged. "Sure."

We walked out through the station doors towards the place I had parked the car. I had just dug the keys out of my purse to unlock the doors when Reid's voice drifted through my head, _"Be on the lookout for any of your brother's old friends that show up. The unsub is most likely feeling guilty and stressed about killing Elijah which is most likely why he killed again so soon. He may come around and tell you how sorry he is for your brother's death."_

Next, the rest of the profilers' voices drifted in and out in a myriad of thoughts. _"…Also extremely fit…" "…Strong enough to hold down a full grown man who is fighting for his life…" "…Most likely in his early to mid 20's…" "…Charismatic, friendly, and easy to talk to…"_

There had many old friends that had stopped by to say their condolences, but only one fit the profile completely. My mind instantly shifted to Alex Schmidt. He certainly fit the profile well enough. He was tall and strong, expressed his sympathy over Eli, and he was very friendly. My hand drifted down to my jacket pocket where his address was still laying. Ean elbowed me in the waist and I quickly focused my attention back on him.

"Hotel?" Ean asked.

I unlocked the car. "Yah, let's get going."

* * *

**Alright, so yes I realize that this chapter is a bit shorter than usual. But, there is still progress! Reid and Morgan are on the hunt for the unsub, and Reid is getting some good advice while doing it. Also, Erika is putting two and two together which may lead to either a good or bad situation. Who knows what will happen next?! ;D**


	10. Chapter 10

**I get to post a chapter on the first day of the new year! Yay! Subconscious life goals!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.**

* * *

Reid and Morgan stood in front of the second address on their half of the list. It was a small, run-down looking building, but from the amount of cars taking up space in the parking lot it was still a pretty popular place to go.

"Is this the right place?" Morgan asked.

Reid glanced down at the paper he was holding to look over what his memory could already tell him. "This is it: Bill Mason's Better Jobs."

With a shrug, Morgan led the way up the stairs. The inside of the building looked much fresher than the outside. The front desk was almost directly in front of the entrance and the waiting area on the right side looked cozy. There was even an expensive coffee machine perched next to an old magazine rack.

Morgan walked up to the front desk and showed his badge to the man sitting behind it. "I'm Agent Morgan with the FBI and this is Dr. Reid. We're looking for Bill Mason."

The man behind the desk stood up. "That would be me. I'm working the front counter while Terry, my secretary, is out on maternity leave. What can I do for you?"

Morgan brought out a picture of a smiling red head. "We need to know if a Sandy Miller came here a few days ago."

Bill glanced at the picture and nodded. "Yes, just give me a few seconds." He plopped back down in the chair and typed a few things into the computer. "I don't get as many clients as big businesses do, so it's easier to remember certain people. Miss Miller is one girl I don't think I could ever forget. She came in here about two weeks ago." He looked up curiously. "Why do you want to know? Is she in trouble?"

Morgan's answer was said softly, so as not to disturb the people in the waiting room. "She was murdered twelve days ago."

"Oh." Bill took a step back. "That's a shame. She was such a sweet, fiery young woman, very eager to get out in the world and start making a living, too. She was one of the youngest clients I have."

"What exactly does your business do for your clients?" Reid asked, stepping forward.

"Well, we help people find temporary jobs. Most of the time we serve kids just out of college who are looking for experience before they can move to a higher level in their career. Every now and then we'll get young ones looking to get out early, like Miss Miller there," he motioned to the picture, "or we'll get older ones just looking for something to do."

"How do you decide where to send them?"

"Well, in order to know what kind of job the client is looking for, we have them fill out a form containing all the necessary information. Then we find a business that we believe suits their needs, and we arrange an interview." Bill glanced between the two agents quickly. "Of course, before we can recommend a certain business we have to get their permission. We have a list of all participating local businesses if you would like to see that."

"That would be good," Reid answered quickly.

Bill nodded and quickly started shuffling through a file. After a moment, he pulled out a small pile of staples papers. "Here, these are the businesses, the owners, and their addresses."

While Reid took the stack and started going through it, Morgan continued questioning Mr. Mason. "By chance, did a Roger Clint, Elijah Crowley, or Tasha Marks ever come in?"

Bill did some more searching on his computer. "An Elijah Crowley came in just last Thursday, and Tasha Marks came in just two days ago."

Morgan adjusted his stance and crossed his arms. "No Roger Clint?"

"Nope, I'm sorry."

Reid gasped and the sound of rustling papers intensified. "Morgan, I know how the unsub found Roger Clint. He wasn't a client; he's on the list of business owners who gave permission for their businesses to be recommended!"

"Well that clears up how the unsub knew each of his victims' line of work," Morgan stated. He turned back to Mr. Mason. "We're going to need a list of your employees and all the clients that they serve."

Mr. Mason wrung his hands together. "I can get you the list of employees, but I'm afraid there isn't a way to get you a list of who they served. Clients aren't assigned to one person; they just go when the next spot opens up."

Morgan sighed. "Well, a list of employees will have to do."

Five minutes later Reid and Morgan were walking back to the SUV, Reid with a copy of employees clutched in his hand. Morgan was dialing Hotch. As soon as his call was answered, he started talking.

"Hotch, Reid and I found where the unsub's been finding his victims. They're all connected to Bill Mason's Better Jobs; he works there."

_"__Alright, send the list of names to Garcia and have her run them through the system."_

"I'm on it." Morgan hung up and cranked the SUV. "Reid, call Garcia and give her the names."

"Yep," Reid replied. He was already getting his phone out.

_"__Ah, Lover Boy, how'd the date go?"_

Reid groaned. "Not you too."

_"__Oh, you know I'm only teasing,"_ Garcia pouted. _"Now, what can I do for you?"_

"I'm going to send you a list of names, and I need you to cross reference them with Elijah's riddle club. See if you come up with something."

Garcia laughed. _"Oh, you know I'll find something, one way or another. I'm out."_

00000

After we reached the hotel, Ean and I made our way to the set of adjoining rooms that we had all been staying in. When we got there, we found that Mom and Elena had joined Dad and Ethan in their room and were staring dazedly at the TV, watching old reruns in the dark. I tossed my purse, keys, and phone onto the dresser.

"So, Erika and I were thinking about going out for a late breakfast," Ean started. "Maybe clearing our heads a little bit instead of sitting in a dark hotel room. How bout it?"

Mom sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "That's probably a good idea. I can't say I'll enjoy it, but it'll be better than wasting away in here." She scooted off the bed. "Come on everyone, grab your stuff and let's head down."

"Actually Mom," I said, pressing a hand to my head, "I'm not feeling very good right now. I think I'm just going to stay here and rest."

Mom immediately set her purse and coat back down. "What's wrong? Are you sick? Do you want me to stay here with you?"

I shook my head adamantly. "No, no, I just don't really want to go out. Everything's just now sort of hitting me, and I really would rather stay here by myself. I just need some time alone."

Mom still hesitated, but then Dad stood up and put a hand on her shoulder. "Let her stay. She hasn't gotten as much time as we have to take it all in and process it."

"Alright," Mom consented. "But, if you need anything, and I mean anything at all, call me. That means tissues, old home videos, hot chocolate, or someone to talk to."

I managed to form a small smile. "Yes Mom."

She wrapped me in a choking hug before she was dragged out the door by Ethan. I waited a few minutes to make sure no one was coming back to pick up anything they had forgotten. As soon as I was sure they really were gone, I spun around and started digging through drawers.

"It's gotta be here, it's gotta be here," I muttered. "Come on, he never leaves home without it."

I rummaged through every drawer in the dresser and when I didn't find what I was looking for there, I switched to the bedside table and then to the closet. Still nothing. Finally, I made one last desperate attempt. I ripped through the suitcase laying on the floor. It had been packed in a hurry and most of the clothes were already in messy piles which made it even harder to find anything. At long last, my fingers hit something familiar.

"I found it!" I breathed. My face broke into a wide, uncontrollable grin as I pulled my dad's .45 out of the very bottom of the suitcase. I stood up and quickly stuffed the gun into my purse. Then, I grabbed my keys and Alex Schmidt's address and marched out the door.

* * *

**We're back to the regular length chapters again. This one even turned out a little longer than I thought it would. Whoo hoo! I actually wasn't planning on having anything about the Crowley family in this chapter, considering how the last chapter was mainly about them. Even when it wasn't it was. But then I decided I needed to keep the mystery solving suspense going a little longer instead of revealing everything at once. **

**Anyways, this chapter was born, and I think it turned out alright. Reviews anyone?**


	11. Chapter 11

**I absolutely do not like technology. Yes, I know that we live in the "technological" age or whatever it's called, but electronics aggravate me to no end. Basically, the point of this rant is that my (9 year old) computer's wifi drive thingy died and when I took it to get it fixed, the hard drive crashed. My faithful computer finally lost it's last life. **

**So to make myself feel better, I went out and bought myself a huge, klunky laptop with a 17" screen. The goal of scientists may be to make electronics smaller and sleeker, but I'm happy with my giant computer. And now I can type and publish my stories again! Yay!**

**And once again, no I do not own Criminal Minds, no matter how much I want to.**

* * *

While Morgan was trying to navigate the small town roads, Reid was looking over the list of employees from Bill Mason's Better Jobs. It was a relatively long list for such a jumbled looking business. Reid had just scanned halfway down the third page when he stopped. He set the papers down on his lap, and stared straight ahead.

Morgan glanced at Reid out of the corner of his eyes. "Reid, what is it?"

Reid grabbed his cell phone and quickly dialed Prentiss's number. While it was ringing he answered Morgan's question. "There's a name on here that I've seen before, and if I'm right then I think I might've found our unsub!"

Prentiss answered the call. _"Yes?"_

"Prentiss, I need you and JJ to look through the list of people you have and tell me if there's an Alex Schmidt on there."

The sound of shuffling papers was heard as well as Prentiss mumbling names under her breath. _"There's no Alex Schmidt on my list."_

JJ's voice popped in from the background. _"I found him! He joined the club the same year Elijah Crowley did and it says here that they worked together as a team pretty often."_

Prentiss's voice came back on. _"Did you get that?"_

Reid nodded his head even though he knew they couldn't see him. "Yah, I got it. Thanks." He quickly patched a call in to Garcia.

_"__I haven't finished my cross checking yet, but speak anyways mortal. I can still help!"_

"Garcia, I need you to look up an Alex Schmidt. I think he may be the unsub."

_"__I'm supposing that this is the same Alex Schmidt that went to college with Elijah Crowley and stayed in the same dorm as him, correct?"_

"Yes."

_"__Alright, it says here that he moved to Hope when he was six. He started and ended college with Elijah Crowley. Then they both applied to the same dentistry school and while Elijah was immediately accepted, Alex's application was rejected."_ There was a pause. _"Oh, and then it all starts going downhill fast, and when I say fast, I mean a rocket wouldn't be able to keep up. According to his bank account, Alex was spending all his money on completely useless things, like he was still trying to live the good life even though he definitely couldn't afford it. Um, he got a job at Bill Mason's Better Jobs a couple months ago…."_

"Garcia, did anything happen about four weeks ago?" Reid impatiently tapped his fingers on the papers resting in his lap.

A couple of clicks and then, _"Yah. His sister, Sara, was diagnosed with leukemia exactly four weeks ago. It says here that the doctors think she only has a few months left to live."_

"That's the stresser," Reid stated. "He has to be the unsub. What's his address?"

_"__1392 South Hammond Road," _Garcia replied. _"You and Morgan are the closest ones to it, just take the next right and you'll be headed in the right direction. I'll relay the information through to everyone else."_

"Well?" Morgan asked as soon as Reid set the phone down.

"Take the next right," Reid directed. "Alex Schmidt is our unsub."

00000

I pulled up into the driveway of a small house situated right in the middle of the only neighborhood in Hope. The house was well taken care of. The yard would've probably been beautiful in the spring, but since it was winter all the trees and shrubs had lost their leaves and were doing their best to survive.

As I stepped out of the car, I couldn't help noticing that it felt like the temperature had dropped even further. There were dark clouds hovering in the sky, too. I zipped my jacket up and shouldered my purse. As long as I kept everything under control and I didn't act too quickly, then this visit would go exactly as planned.

"Alright, let's do this," I whispered under my breath, giving myself a small pep talk.

I stood up straight, walked up the small brick path to the door, and knocked. I stood there and adjusted my purse for a minute or two before the door finally swung open. As soon as it did, I plastered a pathetic smile on my face.

Alex Schmidt stood in the doorway, looking down at me in confusion.

"Hey," I said. I held up the piece of paper he had given me with his phone number and address. "You told me to find you if I ever needed something."

Alex scratched his head. "Yah, I did. It's just, this is a little earlier than I was expecting. Usually people hang on to something like that for years before they actually call in a favor."

"Well, can I come in?" I glanced up at the sky. "I think it's about to rain."

Alex followed my gaze up to the sky. He shrugged and stepped back from the doorway. "Sure, come on in."

I stepped through the door and walked down the entrance hall into the living room. The sound of the door closing was heard and then Alex's voice saying, "I wasn't expecting company, so the house is a bit dirtier than I would like. Sorry about any messes." I blinked. The room was almost spotless. The books on the bookshelf were all standing up nice and straight, the carpet looked freshly vacuumed, even the discarded shoes in the corner were lined up in pairs. The only things out of place were the throw pillows on the couch and a couple of magazines on the coffee table.

Alex loped over to the couch and plopped down on it. "So, make yourself at home. What do you need?"

I looked around and decided to sit on a small chair next to a window. After I was comfortable, I took my purse off my shoulder and set it in my lap.

"I just want to talk," I said.

Alex tilted his head. "Talk?"

"Yes. My family is out trying to start the moving on process or something like that, and every time I try to talk to them, they either shut down or try to make it better. I don't want that. I just want to be able to tell someone how I feel without them having to tell me why I feel like that or how long it'll last." I hunched my shoulders together in an effort to make myself look sad and lonely, even though grieving was the last thing on my mind at the moment. In the back of my head I did feel terrible that I was using Elijah's death to help get revenge on the man that did it, but it was the only way.

Alex cleared his throat and changed positions. "Sure, I can do that."

I gave a small smile of relief. "Okay good. I'll just start with something that completely confuses me." I paused for a moment to gather my words into the correct order. "See, I don't understand why Elijah died."

"…What do you mean?" Alex asked a little confusedly.

"I mean, Eli was one of the nicest guys in the world. He did his best to help as many people as he could, and I don't know a single person who hated him. He was smart and successful, and he was on his way to being a great dentist!" I threw my hands up in the air. "He had just bought a house to remodel, he wasn't doing anything wrong! He wasn't even at the wrong place at the wrong time. He had just gotten home from work and was getting ready for me to come over."

Alex was starting to look a little uncomfortable. "It's a horrible tragedy," he murmured.

"You know what makes it even worse?" I asked. "The FBI told me that it was a good friend of his that did it."

Alex sat up ramrod straight. "They think his friend killed him?"

"Yes! What kind of friend would do that?" My eyes unconsciously started tearing up. I covered my mouth with my hand to stop any sobs from getting out. This was not the time to break down.

"Whoever did murder Elijah must've been a cruel, heartless person," Alex muttered. "No sane person would ever kill their best friend."

This was the moment I had been waiting for. "Then why did you?" I asked softly. I slowly reached into my purse and wrapped my hand around the gun.

Alex frowned. "Why did I what?"

I yanked the gun out and pointed it at his head. "Why did you kill Elijah?"

Alex jumped further into the couch cushions and raised his hands up in surrender. "What are you talking about? I didn't kill Elijah; didn't you listen to me when we first met? He was my best friend!"

"Exactly!" I nearly screamed. "You're the only one close enough to him to be able to figure out his iPhone password! He trusted you enough to let you into his house! You read the text I sent to him after you drowned him! You regret killing him so you offered me help!" I was so furious, my hands were shaking.

"I didn't want to kill him," Alex said softly, as if he was trying to calm down a wild animal. His calming tactic wasn't going to work on me.

"Then why did you?!"

* * *

**And we are one chapter closer to the end of this story. **

**So, I will admit that the unsub wasn't very hard to figure out. Next time I write a Criminal Minds story I'll have to work on making it less obvious. But now, all the characters know who it is too, and Reid and Morgan are in for a big surprise when they finally get to Alex Schmidt's house.**

**Also, I want to thank all the people who have followed/favorited/reviewed this story. It means so much and it makes me want to write more everyday! And thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story since the beginning! It's been a rough ride, and I have now found out that I don't have the ability to stick to a schedule. So thanks for sticking with the story!**


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